Interestingly, the teams have faced a couple common opponents this season, which are generally fun to compare and contrast but mean little to nothing when trying to predict the outcome of tournament games.

Both teams played Pinnacle with Wendover dumping the Lady Panthers 63-15 in their only meeting and Monticello winning 57-18 and 50-18 in two meetings.

The other common opponent was the Tabiona Lady Tigers, whom Wendover lost to 47-43 and Monticello beat 35-28.

MHS coach Kraig Black’s teams have had good success the past four state tournaments, finishing as high as fourth in both 2016 and 2017. The girls did not place in 2015 and 2018 but won at least one game in each of those tournaments. The girls hope to improve on that this season.

If the Lady Bucks grab a first-round win, they will face either the Rich Lady Rebels (18-4, 6-0) or Water Canyon Lady Wildcats (3-12, 1-9) on Thursday, February 28 at 10 a.m. at the Sevier Valley Center. If they lose, they’ll play either Rich or Water Canyon Thursday at 10 a.m. at Richfield High School.

Boys basketballThe boys have also been looking forward to this week all year and, in some cases, their entire high school basketball careers. This should be a fun week in a very wide-open boys tournament.

The 1A top five has been a revolving door all year with teams sliding up, down, and out from week to week.

There are 7-8 teams that, if they get hot and play well, could be hoisting the golden trophy at the end of the week. Monticello is certainly one of those teams.

Coach Esplin’s teams have had great tournament runs the past five-seasons with a 1A state championship in 2014 and a third-place finish the following year in 2015.

His 2016 senior-laden team lost a heartbreaking opening round game but still finished in eighth place. His 2018 team bested that by one spot, placing seventh overall.

This season has seen the Bucks play terrific at times and not so terrific at others, but as stated above, if this team can find consistency and shoot well, they could do very well at this year’s tournament.

The Buckaroos (14-7, 9-1) enter the tournament as Region 19 champions and will face the Water Canyon Wildcats (11-10, 4-8), who finished fifth in Region 20 and had to win a play-in game Saturday, February 23 against Intermountain Christian (ICS) to reach the main field in Richfield.

The Bucks and Wildcats have shared some common opponents. Monticello lost to ICS 59-46 in early December and, as stated above, Water Canyon beat them last Saturday by 10 points.

On the flip-side, Water Canyon struggled to get by Monument Valley 73-68, yet Monticello easily handled the Cougars twice, 77-59 and 73-21.

Monticello beat Region 20’s Piute 60-45 in December and Water Canyon lost to the Thunderbirds twice in region play, 64-59 and 59-49.

One thing of note about the Monticello attack is how balanced the senior-heavy team is. Almost all of the senior starters average double digits in scoring.

The Bucks are led by senior Lucas Hatch, who is averaging 16.4 ppg on 49.8 percent shooting. Hatch also connects on 38.7 percent of his three-point shot attempts and has made 43 on the season.

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